English teachers on vacation
imagine the furthest point from the classroom 

dream of inspiring indifferent students 
with exploits they won’t give many fucks about

ordering coffee with indistinct accents pretending they’re not American

yet insisting on knowing 
exactly where the cheese is from 

tipping generously 
to offset the perception 

that they’ve had too big a hand 
in the world’s destruction

English teachers on vacation
return to work with three bars on 

engaging in a set of 
emergency calisthenics

as a bulwark against 
eight more weeks of instruction 

buying chocolate 
for their colleagues 

that they’ll finish themselves
on the plane ride home